2. EARLY CAREER
- Began his music career after meeting, and being inspired by,
singer-songwriter Damien Rice. Rice encouraged Sheeran to write his
own music, due to the amount of music potential he had.
- He started recording CDs and selling them, and soon put together
his first official EP, The Orange Room. At the age of 14 he headed to
London thinking he could find gigs in the city.
- In London, Sheeran was busy recording and releasing independent
albums: a self-titled record in 2006 and Want Some? In 2007.
-He began opening for more established acts, such as Nizlopi and Jay
Sean. He released another EP, You Need Me, in 2009. A year later he
was playing at 300 live shows.
3. INITIAL SUCCESS
- His success begun when a video he posted on social media gained
the attention of Example, who asked Sheeran to be his opening act.
This was the beginning of his fan-base.
- He then headed to the America, where Jamie Foxx asked him to
appear on his Sirius radio show.
-His last EP as an independent artist reached no. 2 on iTunes, without
any promotion, and he signed with Atlantic Records the same month.
- He released his debut studio album, +. The album was an instant
success, selling one million copies in the UK in the first 6 months of
release.
-From here he started to co-write songs for established artists, such
as One Direction and Taylor Swift.
4. “ON A ROLL”
- His success continued with I See Fire, that featured in the movie The
Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
- In June 2014, he released his next studio album, x. It debuted at
no. 1in both America and the UK.
- Thinking Out Loud won the Grammy for ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best
Pop Solo Performance in 2016.’
- Sheeran released two singles, Shape of You and Castle on the Hill,
in January 2017. With the former going straight to number one, and
staying there for 14 weeks in the UK.
- His third, and most recent, album ÷ was released in March 2017,
with all songs charting. He announced a world tour, and broke the
Spotify record for first-day album streams with 56.7 million in a day.
6. Typography: simple,
sans serif, looks hand-
written, giving Sheeran
an approachable
atmosphere.
Link to most
recent music
video, Shape of
You. Plays on
website. At the
center of the
screen,
suggesting it’s
the most
important. White
contrasts from
image.
Subscriptio
n service.
Creates a
relationship
between
the two.
Links to other
parts of the
website.
Doesn’t draw
attention
away from
main image.
Main image,
different shot
from music
video. Depth of
field draws
attention and
focus to
Sheeran.
Social media
links,
suggests his
target
audience is
teenagers; as
many are
active on
7. The website is very simplistic and uniform – with the majority of the images being in square
format. There is not that much focus on Sheeran himself, suggesting that the focus is on his
music and that he doesn’t want to be in the limelight. He has clear labels, with links to social
media on every tab; even having a page dedicated to his Instagram. There is a tab for charities
and his merchandise, encouraging fans to spend money into his image. News and tours, with
the optional subscription service, provide information that could be lacking on other websites.
His image is very ‘what you see is what you get.’ Which is similar to the website.
9. ALBUM ARTWORK
Sheeran’s most recent album is plain and simple,
with no images of him on it. Supporting the
suggestion that his brand is not dependent on
physical appearance. The album is quite
unconventional, as the majority of pop albums
feature the artist.
The set of albums follow a house style, using
mathematic symbols to differentiate themselves.
His first album, +, features his face – suggesting
that now he is successful his image has changed.
10. ALBUM PROMOTION
-Web based promotion on social media. Sheeran posted a video of
himself on twitter working on it to create buzz.
-Active on social media.
-TV appearances, appearing on shows such as ‘The Tonight Show
Featuring Jimmy Fallon.’
-Selling albums at Oxford Street’s HMV.
-World Tour.
11. MUSIC VIDEO – SHAPE OF
YOU
The music video for Sheeran’s ‘Shape of
You’ shows the singer preparing for a fight,
with a romantic sub-plot.
Directed by, Jason Koenig.
Stars Sheeran and Jennie Pegouskie;
featuring YAMA.
Before the official music video was released,
Sheeran released a lyric video.
12. The locations are dingy and urban. With a run-down training
area and underground ‘final fight’ arena, surrounded by a
crowd of people. Wide shots add a cinematic atmosphere,
immersing the viewer in Sheeran’s and Pegouskie’s training.
Blue toned lighting is used, which adds a cold feel but also
links to the colour of the album.
13. Despite Sheeran making eye contact with the
camera, the narrative isn’t broke. Instead, it adds a
tense atmosphere as the viewer gets a close-up of
him training.
Sheeran’s previous and recent album symbols are shown in t
gum shields. Which promotes both of the albums through the
intertextuality. The divide album gum shield is gifted to Shee
connotes how he is ‘giving’ the album to his fans.
14.
15. TODOROV’S NARRATIVE
The music video follows Todorov’s theory, it establishes characters
and shows a clear disruption to the equilibrium. This is seen where
Pegouskie’s character leaves, as it breaks the relationship the two
characters formed.
Sheeran asks for help, and seeks a resolution following the hint she
left. The audience sees him train and travel to this final location.
However, the anticipation is traded for a humorous ending, seeing
Sheeran vs. a Sumo wrestler. The resolution is left on a cliff hanger,
we see Sheeran be defeated but Pegouskie’s character jumps into
shot as the video ends. Leaving the audience to ask, what next?
16. GOODWIN ANALYSIS
Lyrics and
visuals, “Kiss in
the backseat,”
and “Fill your
plate.” The
lyrics and
visuals together
play a
significant part
in emphasizing
the character’s
relationship.
Notion of looking.
Intimate close-up, slow motion in the vide
Fast paced cuts match
the pace of the music.
17. CONCLUSION
The blue tones of the video connect with the album cover and
website, creating a house style. The colour palette remain the same
throughout, however, the lighting is brighter when the two are
together – which could connote happiness. The studio shot on the
website feels like a continuation of what happened during the video,
Sheeran visiting the railway they trained at.
Sheeran creates a down to earth image, simply having fun and getting
in relationships. His focus is on the music, never focusing on himself
more than necessary. His record label, Atlantic, doesn’t seem to have
an issue with this; letting him create his own image instead of being a
money-maker. Therefore, Ed Sheeran is quite unconventional for a
pop artist.
